Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic device and a method of controlling a power supply therein, and more particularly, to an electronic device and a method of controlling a power supply therein, which provide selection of an effective power supply using power information.
Discussion of the Related Art
Recently, interest in green energy and technologies is increasing worldwide and smart grid technologies to cope with energy problems are gathering strength as important eco friendly technologies.
A smart grid is a next generation power grid that is configured to allow a power supplier and a consumer to perform and control information exchange in real time via networks, thereby optimizing energy efficiency.
Thus, each electronic device produced in future needs to be equipped with smart grid functionality and substantially, businesses addressing this issue are being developed at home and abroad.
FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary use of a power supply in conventional general electronic devices. FIG. 1 illustrates electronic devices 10 and 20 respectively include batteries 11 and 21. These batteries 11 and 21, for example, may be integrally mounted in the electronic devices 10 and 20, or may be detachably attached to separate battery attachment/detachment modules of the electronic devices 10 and 20. Of a variety of electronic devices, in particular, portable electronic devices, such as smart phones, personal digital assistants and the like, widely employ the batteries.
In a state in which the conventional general electronic devices 10 and 20 are respectively connected to external power supplies 12 and 22 (e.g., an ‘AC power supply’ or ‘system power supply’), the electronic devices 10 and 20 are operated by AC power fed from the external power supplies 12 and 22. Generally, the AC power is fed by a utility company and is billed on a watt/hour basis. While no power supply is connected thereto, the electronic devices 10 and 20 may be operated by the internal batteries 11 and 21. In brief, conventional electronic devices do not use a battery when a power supply is connected thereto such that power fed from the power supply serves as unique power source. In addition, when the power supply is connected to the electronic device, the power source is always used to charge the battery.
Recently, development of a new grid, obtained by integrating an analog grid with digital technologies, has been issued. As such a new digital grid is merged with information communication technologies, moreover, a method of sending and receiving power information in real time via interactive communication is being developed. One example of grid technologies now being developed is smart grid technologies that are widely referred to as an intelligent grid. Hereinafter, terms as mentioned herein, ‘smart grid power information network’, ‘smart grid’ and ‘power network’ mean one example of an intelligent grid enabling interactive communication. In the following description, for convenience of description, the intelligent grid is referred to as a ‘smart grid power information network’. The smart grid power information network is realizable in various manners. For example, this may be realized via a widely utilized Internet network or Power Line Communication (PLC), or may be realized by standardizing other new power information networks.
As the aforementioned smart grid power information network is more actively discussed, demands for saving electricity consumption in electronic devices are increasing. It will be appreciated that discussions into saving electricity consumption via effective power supply selection pertain, in particular, to fulfill the demands. Thus, the above described conventional methods in which only an external power supply unit connected to an electronic device is unconditionally utilized as a power source or in which a battery is unconditionally charged by the external power supply unit connected to the electronic device despite that a remaining charge of the battery is sufficient may result in unnecessary power consumption and excessive economic burden to a user.